Restrictions and limitations when you sync files and folders

INTRODUCTION

This article contains information about the restrictions and limitations that apply when you use OneDrive for Business (onedrive.exe) or OneDrive for Business for Mac OS X to sync SharePoint Online OneDrive for Business libraries to your computer.

Note To determine which OneDrive sync client you're using, see the following Microsoft website:

If you're looking for restrictions and limitations that apply to the earlier version of OneDrive for Business (groove.exe), see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

2933738 Restrictions and limitations when you sync SharePoint libraries to your computer through OneDrive for Business

MORE INFORMATION

Supported libraries

OneDrive for Business can sync both OneDrive for Business libraries as well as SharePoint Online document libraries from team sites. For more information about this functionality and how to set up team site sync using OneDrive for Business, see the following Microsoft website:

This folder name isn't supported when the folder is at the root level for a library

forms

Number of items that can be synced

Although SharePoint Online can store 30 million documents per library, the sync performance of OneDrive may start to decline when you store more than 100,000 files in a single OneDrive for Business site or team site library. To resolve this limitation, ensure that files are stored in multiple folders/libraries. If you have more than 100,000 files in a OneDrive for Business site, you may need to wait an extended period of time with OneDrive continuously syncing before sync can complete.

There are other limits on viewing a document library using the web that may affect how you structure your files in OneDrive.

We're always working to optimize OneDrive to better handle libraries with a large number of files.

Size limit for syncing files

There's a 15-gigabyte (GB) file size limit for each file that's uploaded to the OneDrive for Business library.

Character limit for files and folders

In SharePoint Online, file name paths can have up to 400 characters. The limit may be less than 400 characters in some scenarios, especially if you have a very long URL path for the library.

Sync folder location set to a network drive

You can't add a network or mapped drive as your OneDrive sync location.

Shared with Me

You can't synchronize the Shared with Me view grouping of files from a OneDrive for Business site.

Syncing with an external or guest account

Synchronizing content using an external or guest user is currently not supported by OneDrive

Libraries with Information Rights Management enabled

Libraries will be synchronized as read-only

Elevated privileges

OneDrive can’t be run with elevated privileges.

Differential sync

OneDrive for Business doesn’t support differential sync.

Authenticated proxies

Authenticated proxies aren’t supported with the OneDrive for Business sync client.

OneDrive Libraries with Checkout, Required columns or metadata, or when Draft Item Security is set to either Only users who can edit or Only users who can approve items in Version Settings of the library.

The onedrive.exe OneDrive for business sync client doesn’t support synchronization of SharePoint on-premises data. If you want to sync from SharePoint on-premises environments, you should use the previous OneDrive for Business application (groove.exe).

OneNote notebooks

Because OneNote notebooks have their own sync mechanism, they shouldn't be synced by the OneDrive for Business sync client. Instead, you should save your OneNote files through OneNote or the web to OneDrive. OneDrive will create a stub file in your sync folder, depending where you saved the OneNote file.

Open files can't be synced

A file that’s currently opened by an application can't be synced by OneDrive for Business. To sync the file, close any application where the file is currently being used, and then sync the file.

This limitation doesn’t apply to co-authoring scenarios when you use the Microsoft Office applications described in the "Office integration" section.

Lookup columns in a library

The OneDrive for Business library can't exceed the lookup column threshold. For more information, go to the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

2927386 "We couldn’t sync this library" error when you use the OneDrive for Business sync client

Office integration

The OneDrive sync client for Windows supports co-authoring and in-app sharing when you use Office 2016 Click 2 Run (version 16.0.6741.2027 or higher). You must also have OneDrive (version 17.3.6386.0412 or higher).

The OneDrive sync client for Windows supports co-authoring and in-app sharing when you use Office 2016 MSI and have the following update installed:

Windows specific restrictions and limitations

Windows Explorer displays the first 35 characters of a site library’s name and site name combination for a library that you have synchronized. This doesn’t affect the ability to sync these items within the limits that are described in this article.

Roaming, Mandatory and Temporary Windows profiles aren't supported. The OneDrive for Business sync app only supports users who can write to OneDrive for Business application directories.

Additionally, the OneDrive for Business sync app isn’t supported for client sessions that are hosted on Windows 2008 Terminal Services or Windows 2012 Remote Desktop Services (RDS). This includes both persistent and non-persistent Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).

For the OneDrive for Business sync app to work as designed, the following requirements must be met:

The application must be installed on the local computer.

The user must be able to write to the user profile.

Data that's written to the user profile must be saved to the local hard disk and be available without a network connection.

Mac OS X specific restrictions and limitations

Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant for Office 365

The Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant for Office 365 is a tool which can diagnose and fix many common Office 365 problems. The OneDrive for Business option I’m having a problem with OneDrive for Business now scans for the following issues:

Checks the option to manually or automatically update the NGSC+B to its latest version.

Reports all files that have sizes exceeding the limit.

Reports all files that have invalid characters in the names.

Reports all folders that have invalid characters or strings in the names.

Reports all paths exceeding the limit and provides a link to this KB article.

The tool is available from http://diagnostics.outlook.com. When you run this tool, the initial page will display several options, including the new option for OneDrive for Business - I'm having a problem with OneDrive for Business.